


It's Just not the Same Anymore

by terrawrites



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice (Comics), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Breakup, But it's up to reader interpretation to figure out if anything physically happened or not, Emotional Hurt, Other, allusions to cheating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 08:31:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16678150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terrawrites/pseuds/terrawrites
Summary: A friend requested Dick Grayson x Reader with the prompts “I’m done. I’m done trying so hard only for you to never even look in my direction” + “The phone calls aren’t the same… I can hear in your voice that it’s not the same anymore.”





	It's Just not the Same Anymore

           You weren’t really sure if you were surprised anymore. You were currently curled up on your couch, blinking back tears while staring at the screen of your cell phone. You had long since changed into more comfortable clothes, the nice clothes that you had been wearing before for your anniversary were on the floor of your room, kicked into a forgotten corner so that you wouldn’t have to keep looking at them longer than you had to. Dick had missed plenty of dates or important events during your entire relationship. It was something you knew and had accepted as part of his vigilante activities and his responsibilities with his team. It wasn’t easy, but you were able to get through it because you cared about him and he cared about you enough to work through it.

           Yet at some point, that stopped being the case. At some point in time, he seemed to change. Missions became longer and more frequent, his time spent with his team increased as well. Things between the two of you continued to become more strained, but once again you continued to work through it because you truly believed that the two of you were meant to be together. You only pretended not to notice how he seemed to linger on one of his teammates. He spent more and more time up in the Watchtower where you knew they both worked out of. You didn’t want to get jealous, but at some point you just had to stop pretending that you were the one his heart beat for. The two of you were growing more and more distant while he seemed to be growing ever closer to his teammate. Tonight was just the latest instance of that. On your phone screen, a text message from him was on display. Your tears had long since blurred the words, but by then you had already ingrained them into your memory.

**Dick: One of the team members asked me to hangout with them at the Watchtower tonight. Don’t stay up for me.**

You were used to Dick forgetting dates in favor of his missions or the team, but never once had he forgotten something as important as this. Even the times when his business as Nightwing would pull him away he always made sure to make it up to you and at least mention it in the messages he would leave you. He never used to leave you alone for hours waiting in a restaurant without any mention beforehand until hours later and then never even wish you a happy anniversary when he finally does get to you. This time however, was the final straw. You couldn’t keep putting yourself through this anymore, not when you could no longer deny the clear evidence in front of you. He didn’t feel the same way about you anymore, and it would only keep hurting you if you were to stay. You had to follow you own advice for once and put your needs first in this relationship.

           With shaking hands, you exited out of the messenger, and opened up your contacts tapping on his name. You only hesitated for one moment before hitting the button to call, trying your best to keep your voice even while you could hear it ring in your ear. You didn’t want him to hear how broken you were feeling in this moment.

           “Babe? Is something wrong? You saw my message, right? I’m not going to be home ‘till late so you shouldn’t bother with trying to stay up for me.” There was some kind of noise in the background. You could hear voices that you swore sounded like they were coming from a tv as well as one that sounded like they were physically in the room with him. All of that didn’t bother you as much though. What bothered you the most in that moment was that he sounded annoyed at your call, a tone that he used to never have with you.

           “That’s actually why I called Dick. We need to talk, but first, I want you to tell me what today is.”

           “I don’t have time for this right now, I’m really busy so could you please just tell me instead of making a game out of this?”

           “Just answer the fucking question Richard. And I want you to think really hard about your answer too.” His tone had finally sparked your anger, and though it wasn’t your intention to snap at him when you made the call, it felt good to finally let some of your anger out.

           There was a long pause as he considered your answer. You almost never used his full name, only reserving it for when you were serious about something, so he knew that he should at least humor you until he figured out the reason for your call. You were about to say something else, when you heard him breathe out a quiet  _“Oh”_  as he figured out why you were so upset. “We can talk about it tomorrow. I’ve got to go now though.”

           You were furious and hurt. He wasn’t even going to apologize or say anything else on the matter? He was just going to tell you “we can talk about it tomorrow” and leave it at that and expect you to accept that and be done? You were about to go off on him when you heard that other voice again, calling him away from his phone and you. He must have turned away from the speaker to answer them, as his voice sounded a lot more distant but you could still here him. What you heard sapped all your anger and just left the pain behind. As Dick responded you heard the warmth and love in his tone that he used to direct at you whenever the two of you talked. If that wasn’t bad enough your brain supplied you with all the memories of when you would overhear Dick on the phone using the same tone he was using now. There was no more room for denial, there only remained one thing to do.

           “ **The phone calls aren’t the same… I can hear in your voice that it’s not the same anymore.”** There was a pause, and you knew you were correct. Somehow that realization hurt more than you thought it would, like there was some small part of you that thought you were wrong, or that it was all just in your head. That somehow you two could work things out yet again and that things would go back to how they were before. That is until they weren’t again. You took a stuttering breath. You had to do this. You couldn’t keep putting yourself through this anymore.

           “We can work this out. Just like we always do. I know you don’t want to do this. I don’t want to do this either. Please just wait a little longer I’m on my way home right now.” He almost sounded sincere. However, you suspected that the only reason he was trying so hard to get you to stay wasn’t because he still loved you like he did when you first got together, but more because he was afraid of what it meant about him if you were to leave, and another reminder of something about him that he didn’t want to face.

           “No Dick. We can’t work through it this time. I won’t be here when you get home.”

           “What are you saying?” He sounded heartbroken, and you felt the same, yet you also felt relief. This needed to happen, for both of your sake.

           “ **I’m done. I’m done trying so hard only for you to never even look in my direction**. You see me standing there but you aren’t really seeing  _me,_  are you? You’re just seeing the person you wish I was instead. I know you Dick. I know when things changed for you. I wanted to believe that our love was still there, but I’ve changed too. I no longer love you like I did back then, just like you no longer love me like you used to. I’m doing this for the both of us. I truly wish for you to be happy with the person you were meant to be with, but we both know that by staying together we’ll only be hurting each other. I’ve got to go, please don’t come looking for me.” You hung up without really listening to his repeated pleas of your name. You knew you would just fall back into his embrace if you did, and you needed to prioritize your own self.

           You stood up from the couch, taking one last look around your shared apartment. There were so many memories here, good and bad. You wiped the tears from your eyes and set your keys on the kitchen counter, walking back over to the front door to grab the bags you had already packed upon your initial return. Dick used to be your sun, your source of warmth and happiness. Now you finally felt how cold everything was, like you had finally woken up from a dream. You let out a humorless laugh. That’s what dating Dick was. Dick was every person’s dream. The only thing about dreams that everyone tends to forget, is that at some point you have to wake up.


End file.
